Siemens makes moves on Healthineers IPO, mandates banks

Siemens has kept us all guessing about the fate of its Healthineers business, saying in March it planned to keep a majority stake in the unit after a spinoff or IPO and hinting in May that Healthineers may go public through a reverse merger instead.

Now, Reuters reports, Siemens has mandated Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan as the lead organizers of a Healthineers IPO, according to a source familiar with the matter.

While the company hasn’t decided yet where to list, one of the sources told Reuters that the New York Stock Exchange, where a number of medtech stocks are listed, would have “an edge” over Frankfurt.

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“An IPO of the Healthineers unit would enable Siemens to do share deals when looking at future acquisitions,” one of the sources said.

Siemens, which was already managing its healthcare business separately, rebranded it as Healthineers in 2016. At the time, it said the move would allow it to boost its foothold in medical imaging and molecular diagnostics, as well as to add new offerings, such as managed services and digital services.

The company said in August that it would delay a Healthineers IPO until 2018. Healthineers, which pulled in €579 million ($681 million) during the third quarter, could be valued at as much as €40 billion ($47 billion), Reuters reported.